EMA Books (7)

For the next few days, we want to replay the EMA stage recommendations in terms of books, particularly for those who were not able to make it. These are not all the books our BookPanel liked – that would be too long a list – but instead those we wanted to particularly identify as being worthy of some reading time. In each case, there is a very brief review, but the main purpose of the posts is to highlight the titles.

Someone asked me recently to give a one line summary of the last twelve months in the Christian book world. My answer? Lots of really good, strong titles, but I’ve not read anything really, really stand out. That was before I read Garry’s latest book. His love endures for ever is a reflective book on the theme of God’s love. It’s jam packed with theology and encouragement for meditation on God’s word (as well as lots of illustrations from the classical world: Garry is nothing if not educational!).  What makes this book stand out for me is that it takes a core biblical theme (the love of God) and looks into it, well, biblically.

That’s important because the love of God is often quoted as a reason for all kinds of bad doctrines. Evangelicals are sometimes tempted, therefore, to dismiss the idea. But we cannot and must not, and Garry shows us a better way. I read this book a chapter a day in my devotions and at the end texted my friend – “I think I’ve found the stand out book of the year.”